Mortalis

'I will raise the tavern,' the woman said quietly, 'the Howling Sheila, or perhaps I shall call it Fellowship Way in honor of the Chili chunks. More enjoyable will the task be if Belster O'Comely walks the road with me, but even if you do not, I leave in two days.'

'You mean to run a tavern?' Belster asked skeptically. 'After all that you have seen and done? You're not thinking that to be a bit of a boring task, girl?'

'I mean to run a tavern,' Pony replied sincerely. 'I mean to sit with Roger on a hillock at sunset and hear the piping of Bradwarden as it drifts through the forest. I mean to tend the grove…' Her voice trailed off, and Belster turned a sympathetic gaze on her.

'Are you sure that you're not just running away? ' he asked her bluntly. 'Haven't you tasks left unfinished right here?' Even as he spoke the question-a question that he knew Pony would not answer-Belster considered her last statement more carefully and found the insight that convinced him of her convictions. Pony had chosen not to go north with Elbryan's caisson, had chosen not to be present when the ranger was lowered into the cold ground. How could he refuse her request now? Pony and Elbryan had saved his life, and the lives of all his friends, during the days of the dactyl and in the troubled times immediately following the demon's fall. Pony and Elbryan had stood beside Belster and all the others, at great personal peril; and the innkeeper had no doubt at all that if the demon had captured him and put him in the very pits of blackness, Pony and Elbryan would have come for him, would have given their very lives to save him.

'Two days?' he asked. 'Have you talked to Dainsey?'

'Dainsey is staying,' Pony replied, referring to the woman who had served the Chilichunks at Fellowship Way before Markwart had taken them hostage, and then had served as Bolster's companion in the tavern when he had reopened it at Pony's request. 'She has become sweet on a particular young man, and never would I take her from that.'

'The poor girl's deserving some happiness,' Belster agreed, for Dainsey Aucomb had indeed lived a trying life. The innkeeper gave a belly laugh and emptied his mug, then wiped the foam from his lips and glanced a Pony-to find her staring at him hard.

'Two days?' he asked again.

Pony's stern look melted into a smile. 'Meet me at the front doors o St. Precious,' she instructed. 'And don't you be late! I want an early stai and a long day's ride.'

'Well, bring a horse for me, then,' Belster said with a resigned sigh. 'I I'm to go back to that wilderness, I'm planning to spend all my fund beforehand.' He finished and turned to the barkeep, motioning for thi man to refill his mug.

Pony kissed him on the cheek and rushed out of Tomnoddy's, heading straight for St. Precious and a meeting with Abbot Braumin that she knev would pain her friend profoundly.

She found him in his office, the same office that had served for Abbo Dobrinion Calislas, and for Bishop Francis. Brother Anders Castinagis arguably the most fiery of the followers ofJojonah, was there with Braumin and Pony heard his agitated voice long before she entered through the room's open door.

'Come in, come in!' Braumin said to her, motioning to a chair at the left-hand side of his desk. Castinagis was standing, Pony noted, his big hands planted on the front of the desk, his eyes locked on the new abbot of St. Precious. 'We were just discussing Master Francis' departure,' Braumin explained. 'He set out this day for St.- Mere-Abelle, to bring the word to our brethren and to confirm the appointment of Brother Viscenti to the rank of master.'

That last statement caught Pony by surprise, and her blue eyes widened. 'So soon?' she asked. When her words brought a somewhat crestfallen look to Braumin, she quickly added, 'Well, never was there a man more deserving.'

'So I believe,' said Braumin. 'And Brother Viscenti will soon enough pass the minimum time required by our Order, so there should be no serious complaints.'

'Unless the messenger presents the nomination in an unfavorable manner,' Brother Castinagis remarked, and then Pony understood the reason for their apparent argument.

'You do not trust Master Francis? ' she asked the towering man.

'Should I?' Castinagis replied.

'Yes,' she answered simply, and the brevity other pointed response put Castinagis on his heels.

'As I was just saying,' Abbot Braumin added. 'Brother Castinagis wished to accompany Master Francis, but I have been trying to explain to him that we who follow Avelyn's beliefs are more vulnerable here in Palmaris than perhaps anywhere else in the world. With Brother Dellman leaving for Vanguard and with Master Francis gone, we of expressed conviction number only five, including us three and Brothers Talumus and Viscenti. We must rally the flock of St. Precious behind us,' he went on, aiming his words now at Castinagis and not Pony, 'first and foremost, if we are to hold ground with Duke Kalas.'

'You are soon to be four,' Pony interrupted, drawing the attention of both men. 'Belster O'Comely has agreed to accompany me,' she explained. 'I leave for Caer Tinella in two days.'

Abbot Braumin seemed to sink back into his chair, and Brother Castinagis just stood there, shaking his head. The news was not completely unexpected, but Braumin had hoped to keep Pony in Palmaris at least through the first half of summer.

'And how long will you remain in Caer Tinella? ' the abbot asked.

'A few days, no more,' Pony replied. 'I hope to be in Dundalis before summer proper, that I might establish my home fully before the onset of next winter.'

My home. The words echoed as a bell of finality in the head of Abbot Braumin. 'Be not so quick to tie yourself to the place,' he advised.

'You may find your road turning back to Palmaris,' Brother Castinagis added. 'This is the center of the world at this time, for the future of the Church, at least.' He continued, gaining volume and momentum with each passing word. 'How might the memory of Master Jojonah, and that of Brother Avelyn-' Abbot Braumin stopped him by clearing his throat loudly. When Castinagis turned to regard the man, the abbot nodded toward the door, and Castinagis took that as his cue to leave.

'He is an excitable fellow,' Braumin said to Pony as soon as the brother had departed.

'And he overestimates our importance, I fear,' she replied,

'Does he?'

Pony just smiled.

'Or is it, perhaps, that you, in your grief, have come to underestimate everything else in all the world? ' Abbot Braumin asked.

'Perhaps I have come to see the truth of the material world,' Pony was quick to answer, 'the truth of the folly and of false hopes. Are you then to promise me eternal life? '

Braumin stared at her hard, his expression a cross between anger and pity.

'If I accept your Church's definition of eternal life, then I say again that Brother Castinagis overestimates our importance,' Pony declared, 'because no matter what we do here, we will all die. True? '

The abbot continued to stare, to chuckle helplessly, and, in the end, to merely shake his head. Yes, Pony had lost her way, had given up, he knew; and he understood, as well, that there was nothing he could do to persuade her differently, to show her the error of her despair.

Pony came around the desk, then, and hugged the abbot. 'You are my friend, Braumin Herde,' she declared, 'a true friend to me and to Elbryan, a kin in heart and soul. You stood with us in the darkest hour, and better is all the world for your efforts.'

Braumin pushed her back to arm's length. 'If you truly believed that-' he started to argue, but Pony put her finger over his lips.

'The road to Caer Tinella and the Timberlands will be well traveled over the next seasons,' she said. 'I promised you that I would attend the opening of the chapel of Avelyn in Caer Tinella, should that come to pass. Send word and I will be there.'

'But that will be years hence,' the abbot protested.

'And we are both young, my friend,' Pony said. She bent low and hugged Braumin again, then kissed him on the cheek and walked out of his office.

When he heard the door close behind her, Abbot Braumin felt as if his heart would break. Suddenly he felt very alone and very afraid. He had allowed his hopes to soar, despite his pain, after the battle at Chasewind Manor.